Apparatus for drawing and collecting textile fibres



APPARATUS FOR DRAWING AND COLLECTING TEXTILE FIBRES Filed Jan. 4, 1960 IG. ANDREANI Nov. 13, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Nov. 13, 1962 3,063,101

APPARATUS FOR DRAWING AND COLLECTING TEXTILE FIBREs G. ANDREANI 4Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 4, 1960 IN VEN 0R.

Nov. 13, 1962 G. ANDRr-:ANI 3,063,101

APPARATUS FOR DRAWING AND COLLECTING TEXTILE FIBRES Filed Jan. 4, 1960 4Sheets-Sheet 3 1N VEN TOR.

Nov. 13, 1962 l G. ANDREANI APPARATUS FOR DRAWING AND COLLECTING TEXTILEFIBRES Filed Jan. 4, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 3,063,101 APPARATUS EGRDRAWING AND COLLECTING TEXTILE FIBRES Gianfranco Andreani, Ing. A.Giambrocono, `Via Durini 4, Bergamo, Italy Filed `lan. 4, 1960, Ser. No.291 Claims priority, application Italy Feb. 28, 1959 1 Claim. (Cl.19-243) This invention relates to apparatus for drawing and collectingtextile fibres.

As is well known, after the carding process, slivers of textile fibresare rencd by being passed through drawing frames in which the sliversare formed into a web of separated fibres so as to render it possiblewhen the web is re-formed into a refined sliver for the fibres of there- `ned sliver to move longitudinally with respect to and withoutinterfering with one another. In order to obtain a satisfactorilyrefined sliver, it has been the practice to perform several successivedrawing and re-forming operations on the sliver and such a processnecessitates the use of a considerable amount of machinery and labourbecause after each drawing and re-forming stage the slivers arecollected into cans or vessels which are then brought up to subsequentdrawing fra-me for the supply of the slivers thereto. A large amount offactory space is thus required for the size of the plant employed and,because of the separate and repeated drawing and reforming operations onthe slivers, the efficiency of the plant in relation to its size is verylow.

It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to provide anapparatus `of improved efficiency in relation to the size thereof fordrawing and collecting textile libres which needs less maintenance andis more compact than has been the case hitherto and requires fewercollecting vessels and a reduced labour force for its operation.

It is a further object to provide an apparatus of the kind set forthwhereby an improved yield of refined sliver is obtained with consequentreduction in the wastage of raw material. Another object is to providean apparatus of the kind set forth in the operation of which the sliveris caused to pass continuously through successive drawing and re-formingstages without, therefore, having to be cut and collected after each ofthe said stages.

Apparatus for drawing and collecting textile fibres, according to thepresent invention, comprises a plurality of rows of storage vessels,each vessel being adapted to contain a sliver of textile fibres, aplurality of drawing sections adapted each to receive slivers from atleast one row of storage vessels, the drawing sections being adapted toform respective webs of textile libres, a plurality of first combiningmeans adapted to combine the fibres of the respective Webs to formrefined slivers, a finishing drawing section for receiving and forminginto a further web of fibres the rened slivers, conveying means fortransporting the refined slivers from the first combining means to thefinishing drawing section, second combining means for combining thefibres of the further web into a finished sliver, and, at least onecollecting vessel for receiving and storing the finished sliver.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with referenceto the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 represents a perspective view of an apparatus for the drawingand collecting of textile fibres according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional plan view of part of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary schematic sectional view taken on the lineIII- lll of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a detail of FIG- URE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of a sliver collecting device associated withbut not Shown in the apparatus of FIG- URE l;

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 but illustrating anotherembodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 7 is a schematic sectional View taken on the line VII-VII ofFIGURE 6, or VIIa-VIIa of FIG- URE 2;

FIGURE 8 is a schematic sectional view taken on the line VIII-VIII ofFIGURE 6; and

FIGURES 9 and l0 respectively illustrate the calender rollers providedin the embodiment according to the FIGURE 6.

Throughout the drawing the same reference numerals have been utilised toindicate like parts of the apparatus. Referring particularly to FIGURE 1apparatus for the drawing and collecting of textile fibres includes fourdrawing sections A, B, C and D of which each section is a1"- ranged todraw several slivers generally indicated by the reference n each from astorage can or vessel m.

The group of slivers n is formed in its associated drawing section intoa web N which is collected into the form of a refined sliver o therebeing produced by the apparatus as many slivers o as there are drawingsections. The

r slivers o are conveyed on an endless conveyor band 1 to a finishingsection generally indicated by the reference E in which the slivers oare collected together to form a single sliver q which is conveyed intoa collecting vessel as described hereinafter in greater detail.

As is illustrated in FIGURE 3 each of the drawing sections A, B, C and Dcomprises a plurality of pairs of upper and lower cylinders 5a and 5bwhich are, of known form and driven in known manner and arranged todischarge the web N onto a downwardly inclined plane 5c. The fibres ofthe web N are collected to form the sliver o by being passed through afunnel Se. On the discharge side of the funnel 5e are provided a pair oftransversely disposed calender rollers 6a and 6b which are arranged tofeed the sliver o into a tubular conduit 9 having inlet and outlet ends9a and 9b suitably shaped so as to facilitate entry to and exit from theconduit 9 of the sliver 0. As is more clearly illustrated in FIG- URE 4,the tubular conduit 9 associated with each drawing section is securedwithin a sleeve 11 which is adjustably secured by a knurled handed screwto a further sleeve 12 which is adjustably mounted by means of a screw14 on a rod 15 secured to the frame of the apparatus. It will beappreciated that the screw 14 provides for movement of the conduit 9 asa whole transversely with respect to the calender rollers 6a and 6bwhilst the knurled headed screw associated with the sleeve 11 enablesthe inclination of the conduit 9 to be adjusted. It follows thereforethat the conduit 9 canbe located relative to the calender rollers 6a and6b of the respective drawing sections A, B, C and D so that the sliverso are disposed at suitably spaced locations on the conveyor band 1 sothat they may be conveyed on the band 1 without interfering one with theother.

As illustrated in FIGURE 2 the endless conveyer band 1 is arranged to bedriven by a driving roller 2 through gears 3 and 3a of which the gear 3ais mounted on a shaft driven by an electric motor (not shown). Theendless band 1 at a point remote from the driving roller 2 embraces anidler return roller 2a.

As shown in FIGURES 2 and 7, the slivers 0 are con veyed along the band1 and onto a surface 1a which is downwardly inclined from the inlet of afinishing drawing section E towards the upper run of the band conveyorand provided with guides for directing the slivers 0 into the finishingldrawing section E which includes upper drawing rollers 55a andco-operating lower rollers 55b. The finishing drawing section E is ofknown form and accordingly will not be described in further detail saveto say that the rollers 55a and 55h serve to draw the slivers o into aweb p the fibres of which are combined in a funnel Sq to form a sliver q(see FIGURE 7).

On the discharge side of the funnel Sq there is provided a pair oftransversely mounted calender rollers 6g and 6r of known construction bymeans of which the sliver q is supplied to a downwardly inclined passage40a of a rotary platform 40 which is arranged to rotate in bearings 41mounted on the frame 43 of the apparatus. For effecting rotation of theplatform 40 there is mounted on the platform 40 and secured thereto byscrews a wormwheel 48 which co-operates with a worm gear 50, the lattergear being mounted on a shaft which is driven by an electric motor (notshown) of the apparatus. Subjacent the circle of rotation of the lowerend of the conduit 40a is disposed a collecting can or vessel M and itwill be appreciated that as the sliver q passes through the conduit 40a,the platform 40 is driven through the gears 48 and 50 so that therotation of the platform 40 causes the sliver q to be deposited in andfill the can M in a series of circular layers.

Preferably as will be observed in FIGURE three cans M are providedtogether with means adapted to cause the cans to be successively filled.To this end, the cans M are mounted at angular intervals of 120 on aplatform 130 which is rotatable about a vertical axis indicated by thereference X. For rotating the platform 130 about the vertical axis Xthere is co-axially secured to that platform a gear wheel 131 whichmeshes with a further gear 132 to which is co-axially Vsecured awormwheel 133 which in turn meshes with a worm gear 134. The worm gear134 is mounted on a shaft to which is keyed a gear wheel 135 whichco-operates with a further gear wheel mounted on a driving shaft of anelectric motor 137.

It will be apparent, therefore, that as one of the cans M on theplatform 130 is filled with the sliver q, the motor 137 can be operatedso as to rotate the platform through 120 in which position a furthercollecting can is disposed for reception of the sliver q beneath thecircle of rotation of the discharge end of the passage 40a. A furtherembodiment of the invention is depicted in FIGURES 6 to 10. As shown inFIGS. 6 and 8 there is provided on the discharge side of each funnel 5ea pair of calender rollers 6c and `tid disposed transversely withrespect to the web N of which the lower roller 6d is mounted on ahorizontal shaft 10 which is driven by an electric motor (not shown) ofthe apparatus, whilst the upper roller 6c is rotatably mounted on ahorizontal shaft which can be pivoted through 90 in a horizontal planeabout a pivot 112 (see FIGURE 10). From the nip of the rollers 6c and 6dthe slivers o are each passed around in the groove of a peripherallygrooved transmission pulley 17 by means of which the direction of travelof the slivers o is turned through 90 to direct the slivers o towardsthe finishing drawing head or frame E. The pulley 17 is so located as toprovide appropriate spacing between the slivers o as they pass towardsthe frame E.

Between each pulley 17 and the frame is provided a pair of sliversupporting rollers 6e and 6i which are mounted upon respectivehorizontally disposed shafts 91 and 90 supported on the main frame ofthe apparatus (see FIG. 9). The shafts 90 and 91 are arranged at rightangles to the driving shaft to which is secured a bevel driving gear 91ewith which meshes a driven bevel gear 91b which is keyed to the shaft 91of the upper roller 6e. Also keyed to the shaft 91 is a gear wheel 91awhich meshes with a gear 90a keyed to the shaft 90 (see FIG. 9). Thusupon rotation of the shaft 10 by the associated electric motor (notshown) the bevel gears 91e and 91b together with gear wheels 91a and 90aserve to drive both the supporting rollers 6e and Gf. From the pairs ofsupporting rollers 6e and f, the slivers o pass along a table 1c andthrough guides 1a formed on the table 1c to the finishing drawing headwhere they are threaded in the manner described in connection with theembodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGURES 1 to 5 and FIGURE 7.

As illustrated in FIGURE 8, though the particular feature about to bedescribed may equally well apply to the arrangement shown in FIGURE 3,each funnel 5c is, preferably, so mounted that the axis thereof isinclinable relative to a main frame member W of the apparatus. To thisend the funnel 5e is supported in an aperture formed in an end of acranked arm 13 remote from the frame member W. An end of the arm 13adjacent the frame member W is pivotally mounted at 13a and formed witharm members 13b and 13C respectively extending transversely on oppositesides of the arm 13. By means of operating screws 13d and 13e whichco-operate with the arms `13b and 13e and engage at forward ends thereofabutment means provided on and by the member W, the inclination of thearm 13 and, therefore, of the funnel 5e can be adjusted.

From the preceding description of preferred embodiments of the inventionit will be apparent that by means of the invention successive drawingand re-forming operations can be continuously and without interruptionperformed on slivers of textile fibres. By virtue of this feature theinvention provides a compact form of apparatus having a high efficiencyin relation to its size. Because of the compactness of the apparatusonly a comparatively small amount of factory space is required for itsoperation and the labour force required for operating and maintainingthe machine is small. Further, since the slivers of textile fibresduring their passage through the apparatus do not require to be cut, alarge saving in the number of collecting vessels employed is effected.The apparatus of the invention provides a high yield of refined finishedtextile sliver and wastage of raw material is minimised.

What I claim is:

Apparatus for drawing and collecting textile fibres, comprising aplurality of rows of storage vessels each vessel being adapted tocontain a sliver of textile fibres, a plurality of drawing sections eachadapted to receive slivers from at least one row of storage vessels andto form the slivers received thereby into a web of textile fibres, aplurality of first combining means adapted each to combine the fibres ofone of said webs of textile fibres to form a further sliver, an endlessband conveyor means for transporting said further slivers, a pluralityof conduit means each for the passage therethrough of one of saidfurther slivers from one of said first combining means to the conveyormeans, said conduit means being arranged so that, in operation, theconveyor means receives the said further slivers therefrom attransversely spaced locations, a finishing drawing section for receivingfrom the conveyor means and forming into a further web of textile fibresthe said further slivers, second combining means -for combining into afinished sliver the fibres of the further web, and at least onecollecting vessel for receiving and storing the finished sliver.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS277,606 Prest May l5, 1883 532,405 Threlfall Jan. 8, 1895 2,412,357Robinson Dec. 10, 1946 2,736,071 Forsythe et al Feb. 28, 1956 FOREIGNPATENTS 1,179,852 France Dec. 22, 1958 380,367 Great Britain Sept. 15,1932

